Susanne Klengel – 2011

Immediately following the Second World War, a number of Latin American intellectuals, men as well as women, toured a Europe torn and shaken by catastrophe. Their primary destination was Paris, once favored among the Latin American elite and considered the center of European civilization. Yet this world order, with its unquestioned claim to cultural superiority, no longer existed. Many of the visitors started to take a critical look at the once shining example of Europe, which in its own way struggled to strike a balance between East and West. They negotiated new spheres of dialogue and action, took part in the cultural rebuilding of the world, attained visibility in positions and functions that were unthinkable before the Second World War. They committed to reclaiming culture after barbarism in the name of a humanism that genuinely and fully recognizes the equality of all human beings. Yet this short time of collective, cultural-political effort and negotiation was soon forgotten, as the Cold War increasingly drew attention to East-West relations. The aim of this book is to reacquaint the reader with the actors, voices and actions of this historical interval (1945 – 1952), which anticipates a number of constellations in today’s postcolonial discussions.